Processors and entrepreneurs are turning seafood byproducts into premium pet food, reshaping the circular economy of Alaska’s fisheries. Situated on the banks of the Kenai River in Alaska, Sara Erickson’s company AlaSkins uses the skins of wild-caught salmon, halibut and cod to make single-ingredient treats for pets. Since 2017, her efforts have helped divert some 60 tons of seafood byproducts from landfills and oceans into the happy bellies of dogs and cats.
The process works like this: Boats bring in fresh fish that is skinned and frozen the same day or the next. During halibut season, for instance, these skins are thawed, dehydrated, cut into bite-sized delights, rolled and packed within three days at the AlaSkins processing plant.
Alaska’s stricter laws on processing and discarding fish waste mean that processing plants must also get innovative with their byproducts. Processors and producers see pet food as one pathway to achieving better utilization of seafood. For Alaskan Leader Seafoods, a fishing company that primarily catches cod in Alaskan waters, byproduct utilization is more about using the whole fish than profitability. Processing byproducts for pet consumption requires specialized machinery, from grinders that pulverize cod heads to freezing racks. At Alaskan Leader, cod heads are ground up and block frozen onboard fishing vessels before being shipped off to pet food manufacturers.
Source: Global Sea Food
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